Monthly Archives: June 2017

Fords recent executive shuffle was bound to lead to reorganization throughout the company, but the addition of a new Robotics and AI Research team operating under Fords Research and Advanced Engineering department seems like it was inevitable either way, given the industrys trajectory.

Fords VP of Research and Engineering and CTO Dr. Ken Washington revealed the new research group via a Medium post, in which he discusses the huge potential impact of AI and robotics over the next decade. The team will work with Argo AI, the startup that Ford took a majority stake in earlier this year via a large investment, as well as on other partnership and acquisition/investment opportunities. Itll help with work on drones, personal mobility platforms (last-mile, scooter-style transport), automation and aerial robotics.

Washington also discussed how in the future well see at least two separate fleets of self-driving vehicles on the road operated by Ford: one led by Fords own team pursuing advanced research and another led by Argo AI focused on development and testing of the virtual driver system Ford intends to bring to production in time for its 2021 deployment of a ride-hailing fleet.

Focusing on AI and robotics research is not novel to Ford among automakers; Honda has long had a program in place to develop its robotics capability, and has frequently demonstrated its Asimo humanoid robot. Toyota also runs the Toyota Research Institute, an entire subsidiary devoted to long-term research and development of robotics and AI, through its own work and partnerships with leading academic institutions.

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Ford creates a new dedicated Robotics and AI Research team ... - TechCrunch

Theagenda for TC Sessions: Robotics(July 17 in Cambridge, MA at MITs Kresge Auditorium) is almost complete, and before the long July 4 weekend we wanted to announce one more stellar addition to the line-up. (And remind you tograb a ticketbefore they are all gone!)

One of the advances driving robotics in recent years are powerful GPUs, and no discussion of the robot brain would be complete without them. So we are pumped to announce thatDeepu Talla, the head ofNVIDIAs Tegra division, which deploys critical GPU technology in robots, UAVs and much more, signed on to our Robot Brain panel. Talla formerly ran NVIDIAs mobile business unit and has a PhD in computer engineering from the University of Texas.

He joins previously announced panelists Heather Ames, the CTO of Neurala, a startup that provides deep learning capabilities forrobots, and Brian Gerkey, whose Open Robotics developed one of the most widely used operating systems for robots.

The Robot Brain panel is only one of many sessions that you wont want to miss, including interviews with MIT CSAILs Daniela Rus, Disneys Martin Buehler, ReThinks Rodney Brooks, TRIs Gill Pratt, ABBs Sami Atiya and many more.

Please set aside July 17 and join TechCrunch, our speakers and attendees for an amazing day of robotics.Get your tickets while they last. Interested in sponsorship?More information is available here.General questions?Reach out here.

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NVIDIA's Deepu Talla to join TC Sessions: Robotics Robot Brain ... - TechCrunch

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) - Michigan Technological University staff are inspiring local high school students interested in engineering.

MTUs Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics department holds their second annual Robotics Machining Workshop this week.

"This year they're building a sterling engine, and with that engine you can put in on a coffee pot and the heat coming from the hot coffee will, the engine will move and that generates the power," said William Predebon, chair for MTUs Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics department.

Students from Houghton, Calumet and Lake Linden high schools are attending.

"It's important because it will help these students develop these skills and then hopefully consider engineering as a profession when they graduate," said Predebon. One incoming senior from Houghton High School is considering exactly that.

"When I am in robotics, I feel like I am in my full functioning capacity, said Houghton High School senior Danielle Lunde. Everything makes sense and I can just work. It's so much fun and the people are so great. The robotics team just becomes like your family. And so, I love it so much."

Lunde has been in robotics for three years. She attended the workshop last year as well.

"It really teaches us how to make our parts more precise and make parts that we, in the past, would have just bought because we didn't realize that we could make it ourselves, Lunde said.

Lunde plans to study mechanical engineering at Michigan Tech after graduation. Her goal is to someday design prosthetic legs.

For the latest News, Weather and Sports, tune into your TV6 News and FOX UP News.

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MTU reaches out to high school robotics - UpperMichigansSource.com

HOUSTON, June 29, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA is awarding up to $600,000 in prizes to the winners of the Space Robotics Challenge, a competition open to teams of citizen inventors competing to develop and master technologies within a virtual environment that can someday be used on real robotic hardware.

Media are invited to attend the awards ceremony for the Space Robotics Challenge at 2 p.m. CDT on Friday, June 30, hosted by Space Center Houston, located at 1601 E. NASA Parkway. Immediately following the ceremony, finalists, winners and Therese Griebel, from NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C., will be available for interviews. Members of the news media who wish to attend should contact Molly Porter for registration atmolly.a.porter@nasa.govbefore 10 a.m. on June 30.

Robots that can perform complex tasks without human control will work alongside the next generation of space explorers. The Space Robotics Challenge, part of NASA's Centennial Challenges program since August 2016, is a public prize competition to develop the capabilities of humanoid robot dexterity to better enable them to work alongside and independent of astronauts in preparation for future space exploration. The finalists were selected from a pool of 92 teams from 13 countries.

The final round of competition was held June 13-16 in a virtual environment, where teams had to program a virtual robot, modeled after NASA's humanoid R5 robot, to complete a series of tasks in a simulation that includes periods of latency to represent the communications delay from Earth to Mars. Each team's R5 had to resolve the aftermath of a dust storm that damaged a Martian habitat. This included three objectives: aligning a communications dish, repairing a solar array, and fixing a habitat leak.

The Top 20 teams, in alphabetical order, are:

BIT PLEASE - Cypress, Texas Coordinated Robotics - Newbury Park, California Mingo Mountain Robotics - Kettle Falls, Washington MITs - Tokyo, Japan Mystic - The Woodlands, Texas Nevermore - Jersey City, New Jersey Ring of the Nibelungs - Medford, Massachusetts Sirius - South Hadley, Massachusetts SpaceBucs Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Space Weavers - San Jose, California Team AL v.2.0 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada Team Olympus Mons - Barcelona, Spain Team Olrun - Evansville, Indiana THE HUMANZ ARE DEAD Boston, Massachusetts Walk Softly - Erie, Pennsylvania Whalers - Nantucket, Massachusetts Worcester Polytechnic Institute Humanoid Robotics Lab Worcester, Massachusetts WV Robotics Team Fairmont, West Virginia Xion Systems Fresno, California ZARJ St. Paul, Minnesota

NASA's Centennial Challenges program is part of the agency'sSpace Technology Mission Directorate, and is managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA uses challenges to gather the best and brightest minds in academia, industry and government to drive innovation and enable solutions in important technology focus areas.

For more information about the Space Robotics Challenge, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/spacebot

For more information about other challenges and prize opportunities with NASA, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/solve

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-hosts-awards-celebration-for-space-robotics-challenge-prize-winners-300482237.html

SOURCE NASA

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NASA Hosts Awards Celebration for Space Robotics Challenge Prize Winners - PR Newswire (press release)

Motion Controls Robotics, Inc. Posted 06/29/2017

Motion Controls Robotics was presented with a certificate of safety achievement through the Sandusky County Safety Council and The Chamber of Commerce of Sandusky County for having no accidents or injuries in the workplace in 2016.

Motion Controls Robotics works in an industry where injuries are common, and the team has implemented many procedures over the years to make sure employees work safely and have a safe work environment. Most recently, MCRI developed 5S procedures. 5S benefits overall employee safety through making clear where items are located - reducing confusion and clutter.

In the 22 years MCRI has been developing and integrating robot systems we have had no reported Lost-Time Injury. This is quite an accomplishment and something the MCRI team is proud to announce.

About Motion Controls Robotics Founded in 1995 and celebrating over 20 years of continuous growth, Motion Controls Robotics is a leading provider of automation solutions to manufacturing industries. The company provides full service robotic solutions from concept to installation and service/support that keep manufacturers competitive. Motion Controls Robotics creates solutions for Fortune 500 and small to medium-sized companies in the food & beverage, plastics, building & construction materials, converting, manufacturing and board & sheet goods industries. They also automate small production shops and machine job shops. Motion Controls Robotics provides automation solutions to manufacturers for a variety of applications including material handling (case packing, palletizing and machine tending), and vision-guided systems. Motion Controls Robotics is an exclusive Level 4 Certified Servicing Integrator for FANUC Robotics, and a SmartCart Automatic Guided Cart Value Added Reseller (VAR) for Daifuku Webb. Motion Controls Robotics northwest Ohio headquarters is located at 1500 Walter Avenue, Fremont, Ohio.

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MCRI Recognized for Safety Achievement - Robotics Online (press release)